Mortise lock



Oct. -12, 1965 R. L. CRANDELL MORTISE LOCK 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV.30, 1962 ATTORNEY Oct. '12, 1965 R. L. CRANDELL MORTISE LOCK Filed Nov.30, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 12, 1965 R. L. CRANDELL 3,211,486

MORTISE LOCK Filed Nov. 30, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Roy 1.CAfl/VDEZ 4 United States Patent a company of Ohio Filed Nov. 30, 1962,Ser. No. 241,201 7 Claims. (Cl. 292-348) This invention relates to amortise lock and more particularly to a mortise lock and an operatingassembly for that lock comprising a knob and a spindle.

Mortise locks have been manufactured and used for many years. Duringthese years, the industry has always faced the very considerable problemof how to assemble to a mortise lock the necessary knobs and mountingmeans for the knobs, together with the operating spindles actuated bythe knobs. Thus, as those skilled in the art appreciate, a mortise lockwhen mounted within a door of average thickness leaves only a minimumamount of wood at each side of the lock. The thickness of the wood isnot adequate for holding wood screws normally used to fasten in positionthe roses that support the knobs. To obviate this difficulty, varioustypes of screwless rose assemblies have been proposed but these are toodiflicult to apply and are quite costly.

The art has also met the problem by utilizing relatively largeescutcheons that extend beyond the lock case. Obviously, theseescutcheons are expensive and when applied to a door are difficult tomaintain polished and attractive. Further, they are consideredobjectionable in modern design which requires simplicity of doorhardware.

A further difficulty in applying trim, such as roses and knobs, is thematter of alignment, due to the type of retracting mechanism found inmortise locks. Thus, mortise locks are generally equipped with a pair ofretractor hubs, one to be operated by an outside knob and one by aninside knob. The outside hub is for certain operations adapted forlocking, while the inside retractor hub remains free for rotation.Coacting with these hubs, it is customary to use a single spindle or aswivel spindle comprising two parts secured against endwise separationbut with the two parts rotatable relatively to one another. A swivelspindle permits one knob to rotate while the other is locked. At thesame time, the swivel spindle serves as a simple element to hold theknobs assembled to the lock, it being customary to insert the outsideknob and the spindle into position, and then fasten in place the insideknob. In other Words, the split spindle func tions to permit individualoperation of the hubs while holding the knobs and spindle assembled tothe lock and door. It is obvious that with spindles of this type,alignment is of the essence, since, if the inside and outside knobs arenot properly aligned with the spindles and the hubs, a binding actionoccurs. Further, the plane of swivel must be accurately located, depitevariations in door thicknesses, or the lock will be inoperative. Inaddition, the plane of swivel must coincide with the plane between thetwo retractor hubs.

A further difiiculty inherent in mortise locks is the securing of theknobs to the spindles. While one knob may be secured to its spindlethrough a pin, this being generally true of the outside knob, the otheror inner knob is generally secured by a clamping screw or similar deviceafter the outside knob and the single or split spindle have been putinto position relatively to the lock and door. These clamping screwsdisfigure the knob and further, are subject to loosening.

Because of the various inherent difiiculties that I have outlined mmortise locks, a new type of lock known as a cylindrical lock has becomeexceedingly popular, even though it also has difficulties that are of adifferent nature. Cylindrical locks, while first developed in order toeliminate mortising of doors, have retained their popularity even thoughthe non-mortising feature has lost its initial value. Thus, whencylindrical locks, or tubular locks as they are sometimes called, werefirst introduced into the market more than twenty years ago, they wereaccepted by carpenters because it is relatively simple to drill one borerunning inwardly from the edge of the door and a larger bore through theside of the door. This is the type of preparation required for acylindrical or tubular lock. Mortise locks on the other hand, require arelatively large rectangular cutout in the door, as well as one or morethrough openings sidewise of the door.

However, in recent years, machinery has been developed so that themortising of doors can be accomplished very simply at the doormanufacturing plant and the boring of the door has no longer theadvantage originally conceded to it. Nevertheless, cylindrical andtubular locks have maintained popularity because they eliminatedifliculties in alignment, including the alignment of the swivel spindleto the hubs despite variations in door thicknesses. Further, in theirmost advanced forms, they do not require wood screws for attachment ofthe roses or knob assemblies. Still further, the knobs are held inposition by spring retainers and may be applied automatically.

Much effort has been applied toward the development of a knob assemblyto be used wtih a mortise lock of the type having retractor hubs andstop work for the purpose of solving the problems of alignment,adjustment for door thicknesses, the fastening of the knob assembly to adoor, and the fastening and holding means for the knobs, together withswivel spindle alignment. These problems have never been solved becauseof the requirement of two retractor hubs. This is complicated by theneed for operating both hubs or but one hub by a spindle traversing bothhubs, the spindle being in turn held by knobs assembled to the lock anditself holding the knobs assembled. I believe that through my inventionset forth hereinafter, I have solved these difficult problems mosteffectively while retaining the retractor hub construction of a mortiselock.

As one feature of my invention, I contribute rose assemblies that areadapted to be secured relatively to a mortise lock in a manner that hasbeen found very acceptable by the art. I solve the problems ofalignment, door thickness and swivel plane adjustment, by having aseparate spindle for each rose assembly, each separate spindle beingadapted for automatic movement into proper operating relation to one ofthe hubs of the mortise lock so as to compensate for varying thicknessesof doors, while simultaneously not in any way affecting the normaloperation of the mortise lock. Thus, through the use of two spindles,with one spindle operating in each of the conventional retractor hubs ofa mortise lock, despite variations in door thickness, I obtain thatsimple communicating lock operation that is required, while also makingpossible the utilization of stop work for locking or releasing at willthe outside retractor hub.

Beyond this, I solve the knob retaining problem by utilizing in my knobassembly a spring retainer for automatically retaining a knob when thatknob is applied to the rose assembly while yet permitting release andremoval of the knob at will.

As will be clearly evident upon a reading of the specification thatfollows, my concept of a particular knob and spindle assembly and amortise lock, contributes a mechanical combination of great value thathas been long sought by those skilled in the art.

Referring now to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional mortise lock, with its upperplate removed, to which my invention may be applied.

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section of the mortise lock of FIG. 1, taken along line 3--3of that figure and illustrating my invention assembled to the particularmortise lock.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing the mortise lock of FIG. 1 and theparts of my invention prior to their assembly to the said lock.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and especially to FIGS.1 and 4, the mortise lock to which my invention may be applied isdesignated generally by reference letter M. This lock is of standardconstruction as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.However, it will be well for me to set forth in this specification a fewof the features of a mortise lock, so that the functioning andimportance of my contribution to the art may be better understood.

Thus, reference numeral indicates the usual front plate of mortise lockM, the plate being attached to the casing of the lock by conventionalmeans. The case comprises a bottom portion 11 having a bottom plate 11aand a top plate 12. Threaded into the top plate 12 is a cylinder lock 13having a key plug 14 that is actuated in a conventional manner to rotatea cam 15, best shown in FIG. 1. The cylinder 13 is held against releaserotation by a standard form of detent 15a.

Mortise lock M includes a deadlocking trigger bolt 16 for deadlocking alatchbolt 17 whenever the door carrying the lock M is moved intocoaction with a strike. The latchbolt 17 is retracted by a lever 18,this lever being adapted also to release a deadlocking lever 19 that iscontrolled by the trigger bolt 16. Lever 18 may be moved in a retractingdirection by cam 15 through rotation of the key plug 14 of the cylinder13, all as is conventional. Lever 18 may also be moved to retract thelatchbolt 17 through rotation of an inside retractor hub 20 or anoutside retractor hub 21. These two hubs are conventional and areadapted to lie one against the other as is well shown in FIG. 2. A ring22 surrounds the hubs and holds them in proper operating relation andalso against movement away from an accurate aligned position.

It will be noted that outside hub 21 extends in a lateral directionbeyond inside retractor hub 20 so as to allow for the forming of alocking slot 23. This locking slot coacts with what the art terms stopwork, designated generally by reference numeral 24. This stop workcomprises a pair of buttons interconnected by a lever 25. Operation ofthe buttons brings a locking slide 26 into or out of slot 23 so as tolock or release the outside retractor hub 21. Obviously, when theretractor hub 21 is locked, it cannot rotate to retract the latchbolt.The latchbolt can then only be retracted by the operation of cylinderlock 13.

In locks of the particular class, it is presently customary to utilizeWhat is known as a split spindle. A split spindle comprises two spindleportions adapted to rotate relatively to one another, but with the twospindle portions held against endwise separation. Thus, glancing againat FIG. 2, it would be customary to mount one spindle portion of a splitspindle within the opening 30 of retractor hub 21, and the other spindleportion within the retractor hub 20, the two spindle portions rotatingrelatively to one another along line of separation which coincides withthe line of separation 32 of the two hubs. In other words, with theretractor hub 21 locked, the spindle portion within the opening 30 ofthe hub 21 will be hled against rotation. However, the spindle portionWithin the opening 31 of the retractor hub 20 will be free to rotate.Actually, the hub 20 will be at the inside of the lock and the knobsecured to the spindle portion that is within the opening 31 will be theinside knob.

The outside knob will be secured to the outer spindle portion that is inthe opening 30 of the retractor hub 21, and this knob will be locked andreleased by the stop work 24 as is standard in the art.

In the conventional construction I have outlined, the inside and outsideknobs are held in assembled relation to the spindles, preferably bypinning the outside knob to its spindle portion, and then clamping theinside knob to its spindle portion as by a screw, thereby preventing theoutside knob from being pulled outwardly away from the lock. In thatearlier construction, it will be obvious that the sole means for holdingthe outside knob in position will be the clamping screw carried by theinside knob. It will be further understood that in assembling the knobsand spindles, because the two spindles are secured against endwiseseparation, the line along which they rotate relatively to one anothermust be set exactly in coincidence with line 32 shown in FIG. 2 betweenthe hubs. Thus, if either spindle portion extends into the opening of asecond retractor hub, even though very slightly, the lock will not beoperable. Since door thick-' nesses vary rather considerably, and sincethe attaching of the knobs to the spindles can vary within considerablelimits, the difiiculties that can be encountered by the particularconstruction thus far described are evident.

It will be interesting to note further that even where a lock is adaptedfor operation at all times by its inside knob and outside knob so that amere solid one piece spindle will suffice, there are still otherinherent difficulties in the conventional construction. Thus, thespindle and knobs must be inserted in exact axial alignment with theopenings 30, 31 or of a single opening in a single hub. Otherwise, therewill be a binding of the spindle and the hubs, as is readily apparent.Further, it is still necessary for a mere clamping screw or the like onone of the knobs to hold the two knobs and the spindle in assembledoperative relation to the lock and door.

I do believe that the basic construction of the prior art and thedifiiculties and problems inherent therein will now appear ratherapparent.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 3, the door in which my lock isassembled is designated by reference letter D, the lock M being shownwith the cover plate 12 in position at the right of the figure. The baseplate 11a of the casing portion 11 is at the left. The inside knob isdesignated by reference numeral 40, while the outside knob is designatedby the reference numeral 41. It will, of course, be appreciated, that ifthe lock is of that type in which the outside knob 41 may be locked, acylinder lock 13 will be placed above the knob 41 in a manner well setforth in FIGS. 1 and 4.

Applied against the inside face of the door is a support plate 42,preferably formed of sheet steel. Sleeve bearing 43 is suitably keyedand spun into assembled relation to the plate 42, as at 42b, so as tobecome an integral part of the plate 42. Rotatably mounted within thesleeve bearing 43 is a sleeve 44, sleeve 44 being held by a snapretainer ring 45 against movement axially outwardly of the sleevebearing 43 in one direction, the sleeve being shouldered againstmovement in a reverse direction relatively to the said sleeve bearing. Astub spindle 46 is headed at 47, and slides in a square opening 48formed in the sleeve 44, for rotation with the sleeve, the headedportion 47 obviously limiting sliding of the spindle in one directionrelatively to the sleeve 44. The spindle is bored for a pin 49 which isforced into the bore of the spindle whereby thereafter to be maintainedin the position illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. A compression spring 50 ispositioned between the pin 49 of the spindle 46 and the end surface 51of sleeve 44, it being the function of the spring to project the stubspindle 46 outwardly of the sleeve 44 toward the limit position shown inFIG. 4. Pin 49 coacts with the hub 20 to limit entry of the spindle 47into the hub bore 31.

The sleeve bearing 43 and the sleeve 44 are so formed that between thetwo parts, as probably best seen in FIG. 3, there is a space 52 intowhich may be fitted a sleeve portion 53 of the knob 40. In other words,the knob may be assembled relatively to the sleeve 44 to lie betweenthat sleeve and the sleeve bearing 43. The knob is formed with anupwardly pressed lug 55, best seen in FIG. 4, this lug being adapted tocoact with a slot 56 of the sleeve 44, to key the knob to the sleeve, asis best illustrated in FIG. 3.

For holding the knob 40 assembled to the sleeve 44, I utilize a standardtype of retainer 60 maintained in retaining position by a spring 61. Theretainer 60 is adapted to enter a retainer slot 62 in the knob sleeve 53for holding the knob in the assembled position of FIG. 3. When it isdesired to remove the inside knob 40, the knob is rotated together withthe sleeve 44 and retainer 60, to position the retainer opposite theopening 65 of the sleeve bearings 43, best shown in FIG. 4. A pin willnow depress the retainer out of slot 62 and the knob may be removed.

Referring again to FIG. 3, there is shown in section a spring retainer70 secured to plate 42 This retainer is conventional and is adapted tocoact with a decorative rose 71 for holding that rose yieldingly inposition to cover the support plate 42 when the support plate is appliedto the door.

At the outside of the door, there is mounted a support plate 42a that isidentical with support plate 42, except that it is equipped with a pairof internally threaded sleeves 73. These sleeves coact with screws 74extending from support plate 42 whereby to secure the two support platesin position against the door. It is obvious that since the screws 74 areat the inside of the door, the outside support plate 42a cannot beremoved surreptitiously except by extreme force. Preferably, supportplate 42a is covered by a decorative rose 7111 similar to the rose 71.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are various meansfor securing decorative rose plates in position and that I have shownonly one form that may be utilized. Later, I shall discuss the locatingmeans for screws 74 and sleeves 73.

The outside sleeve bearing 43b forms part of the plate 42a in the samemanner as sleeve bearing 43 is integral with plate 42. The outsidespindle portion 46a is exactly the same as the inside spindle 46 andoperates in the same manner. However, the knob 41, being an outsideknob, is preferably pinned as at 78 to the sleeve 44a, sleeve 44a beingotherwise exactly the same as sleeve 44. Of course a spring retainersuch as retainer 60 may be utilized. The outside sleeve bearing 43bmight then have an opening arranged like the retainer manipulatingopening 65 in the inside bearing 43, but bearing 43b would have noopening through which the spring retainer could be manipulated whenoutside hub 41 is in locking position. In this way, it would not bepossible to remove the knob 41 when locked against rotation by the stopwork.

In utilizing my invention, it is obvious that the two support plates 42and 42a may be readily assembled to one another, thereby assembling tothe lock the sleeve bearings 43 and 43b, the sleeves 44, 44a and thespring pressed spindles 46 and 46a. It will be obvious further that eachspindle, because of the presence of the limit pin 49, will be able toenter only into its hub opening 30 or 31. Therefore, regardless of thethickness of the door on which the lock is mounted, no adjustment isnecessary since the spindles 46 and 46a cannot be incorrectly ap pliedto the lock. If the door is thin, the springs 50 will simply becompressed just a little more than otherwise.

Further, there is no problem of alignment since the hubs themselves,through the spindles 46 and 46a, will compel the proper alignment of thesleeves 44 and 44a. These sleeve will, in turn, compel the properalignment of the sleeve bearings 43 and 4312. It will further be obviousthat there can be no misalignment by screws 74 because the screws 74used for coacting with the internally threaded sleeves 73, are not woodscrews and are not subject to variation as are wood screws. Further, thescrews 74 and the threaded sleeves 73 are adapted to coact with openings80 formed in the lock case cover 12 and further openings 81 formed inthe back plate 11a of the case 11. Therefore, there can be nomisalignment of any of the parts, so that smooth and accurate operationof the spindles and retractor hubs must result.

With all of the parts set forth in position, the inside knob 40 may bereadily applied through its movement between the sleeve 44 and thesleeve bearing 43 as already described, whereupon it is retained inposition by spring retainer 60. Knob 41 may be similarly retained orelse pinned to its sleeve 44a. It is quite obvious that a springretainer such as spring retainer 60 will function effectively and cannotbecome loose in the manner of the prior art clamping screws usedgenerally in connection with mortise locks to retain knobs and spindles.

I believe that the description of my invention I have here set forthmakes clear my very considerable contribution to the prior art.

I now claim:

1. In a mortise lock, an inside retractor hub and an outside retractorhub, an inside rose assembly comprising a sleeve bearing, a sleeverotating on said bearing, a spindle slidable relatively to said sleeveand engaging said sleeve whereby to rotate with said sleeve, a springpressing said spindle axially of said sleeve into an opening in theinside retractor hub, cooperating means on said spindle and said sleevepreventing disassembly of said spindle from said sleeve while allowingrelative movement between said spindle and said sleeve, means limitingthe projection of said spindle into said opening in said insideretractor hub, a knob adapted to slide on to said sleeve for rotatingsaid sleeve, and a spring retainer mounted in said sleeve for holdingsaid knob on said sleeve, to gether with an outside rose assembly likesaid inside rose assembly for coaction with the outside retractor hub,and threaded means extending through said mortise lock for securing saidrose assemblies to one another and relatively to said mortise lock andthe door in which it is mounted.

2. In a mortise lock, an inside retractor hub and an outside retractorhub, a rose assembly comprising a sleeve bearing, a sleeve rotating onsaid bearing, a spindle slidable relatively to said sleeve and engagingsaid sleeve whereby to rotate with said sleeve, a spring pressing saidspindle axially of said sleeve into an opening in the inside retractorhub, cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve preventing disassemblyof said spindle from said sleeve while allowing relative movementbetween said spindle and sleeve, a knob adapted to slide on to saidsleeve for rotating said sleeve, and a spring retainer mounted in saidsleeve for releasably holding said knob on said sleeve.

3. In a mortise lock, an inside retractor hub and an outside retractorhub, an inside rose assembly comprising a sleeve bearing, a sleeverotating on said bearing, a spindle slidable relatively to said sleeveand engaging said sleeve whereby to rotate with said sleeve, a springpressing said spindle axially of said sleeve into an opening in theinside retractor hub, cooperating means on said spindle and said sleevepreventing disassembly of said spindle from said sleeve while allowingrelative movement between said spindle and sleeve, a knob adapted toslide on to said sleeve for rotating said sleeve, and a spring retainermounted in said sleeve for holding said knob on said sleeve, togetherwith an outside rose assembly like said inside rose assembly forcoaction with the outside retractor hub, and threaded means extendingthrough said mortise lock for securing said rose assemblies to oneanother and relatively to said mortise lock and the door in which it ismounted.

4. In a mortise lock, an inside retractor hub and an outside retractorhub, an inside rose assembly comprising a rotatable sleeve and a spindleslidable along its longitudinal axis relatively to said sleeve, a springpressing said spindle axially into an opening in the inside retractorhub, cooperating means on said spindle and rotatable sleeve preventingdisassembly of said spindle from said sleeve, means limiting theprojection of said spindle into said opening in said hub, a knob adaptedto slide on to said assembly for rotating said sleeve and spindle, and adepressible spring retainer mounted in said assembly for holding saidknob on said assembly, together with an outside rose assembly like saidinside rose assembly for coaction with the outside retractor hub, andthreaded means extending through said mortise lock for securing saidrose assemblies to one another and relatively to said mortise lock andthe door in which it is mounted.

5. In a mortise lock, a thin casing adapted to be mounted within a doormortise, an inside retractor hub and an outside retractor hub, meansmounting each of said hubs within said casing, an inside rose assemblycomprising a sleeve bearing, a sleeve rotating in said bearing with theouter end of its periphery spaced from the inner surface of said sleevebearing, means retaining said sleeves within said sleeve bearing, aspindle slidable centrally of said sleeve and engaging said sleevewhereby to rotate with said sleeve, a spring pressing said spindleaxially outwardly of said sleeve into an opening in the inside retractorhub when said rose assembly is held against the face of the door withsaid spindle aligned with the opening in said inside retractor hub,cooperating means on said spindle and sleeve preventing disassembly ofsaid spindle from said sleeve while allowing relative axial movementbetween said spindle and sleeve, means limiting the projection of saidspindle into said opening in said inside retractor hub when said roseassembly is so held, an outside rose assembly like said inside roseassembly for like coaction with the outside retractor hub, threadedmeans extending between said rose assemblies through openings in saidmortise lock casing for securing said rose assemblies to one another andrelatively to said mortise lock through pressing said rose assembliesagainst the inner and outer faces of the door in the mortise of whichsaid thin mortise casing is mounted and with each assembly spaced-fromsaid casing by the door body, a spring retainer on at least one of saidsleeves, a knob having a sleevelike shank sufficiently thin to fit aboutsaid sleeve and to rotate with said sleeve, a spring pressed retainercarried by said sleeve for locking said knob for rotation with saidsleeve, said sleevelike shank of said knob moving between said sleevebearing and said sleeve, said knob shank having an opening for the entryof said spring pressed retainer whereby to hold said knob againstendwise movement off said sleeve.

6. In a mortise lock, an inside retractor hub and an outside retractorhub, an elongated spindle of polygonal cross section, one end of saidspindle extending into a polygonal opening in the inside retractor hubwhereby to key said spindle to said inside retractor hub, means limitingthe projection of said one end of said spindle into said polygonalopening in said inside retractor, an inside rose assembly comprising asleeve bearing, a sleeve of substantially larger outside diameter thansaid spindle mounted for rotation in said bearing and surrounding theother end of said spindle, said sleeve having an inner end portionproviding a polygonal opening closely fitting and slidably receiving anintermediate portion of said spindle whereby to key said spindle to saidsleeve, said sleeve having an outer end portion of substantially largerinside diameter than said polygonal opening through said inner endportion, said other end of said spindle extending through said polygonalopening in said inner end portion into said outer end portion ofsubstantially larger inside diameter, spring means extending betweensaid sleeve and spindle for pressing said spindle axially of said sleeveinto said polygonal opening in said inside retractor hub, means on theother end of said spindle limiting outward movement of said spindlerelatively to said sleeve While allowing inward movement of said spindlerelatively to said sleeve through yielding of said spring means, a knobhaving a cylindrical shank portion slidably received on the outersurface of said sleeve, spring pressed retainer means mounted withinsaid sleeve in said outer end portion of substantially larger diameter,said spring pressed retainer means having a knob retaining dogprojecting through an opening in said sleeve, and an opening in saidshank of said knob receiving said dog portion of said spring pressedretainer to lock said knob to said sleeve.

7. In a mortise lock, an inside retractor hub and an outside retractorhub, a knob assembly comprising a sleeve bearing, a sleeve rotating insaid bearing, a spindle slidable in an axial direction in said sleeveand engaging said sleeve whereby to rotate with said sleeve, saidspindle extending into an opening in the inside retractor hub, meanslimiting the projection of said spindle into said opening in said hub, aspring extending between said limiting means and said sleeve forpressing said spindle axially of said sleeve into said opening in theinside retractor hub, a knob including a sleeve portion supported on theouter surface of said rotating sleeve, and knob retainer means mountedin position within said rotating sleeve and allowing clearance for theaxial sliding of the spindle in said sleeve, said knob retainer meanshaving a portion engaging in openings in the rotating sleeve and sleeveportion of :the knob to lock said knob to said sleeve.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 205,204 6/78Niles et a1. 292l69 305,426 9/84 Clark 292348 1,621,174 3/27 Schlage292353 2,238,314 4/41 Falk 292337 2,694,309 11/54 Cerf 70147 ALBERT H.KAMPE, Primary Examiner.

7. IN A MORTISE LOCK, AN INSIDE RETRACTOR HUB AND AN OUTSIDE RETRACTORHUB, A KNOB ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A SLEEVE BEARING, A SLEEVE ROTATING INSAID BEARING, A SPINDLE SLIDABLE IN AN AXIAL DIRECTION IN SAID SLEEVEAND ENGGING SAID SLEEVE WBEREY TO ROTATE SAID SLEEVE, SAID SPINDLEEXTENDING INTO AN OPENING IN THE INSIDE RETRACTOR HUB, MEANS LIMITINGTHE PROJECTION OF SAID SPINDLE INTO SAID OPENING IN SAID HUB, A SPRINGEXTENDING BETWEEN SAID LIMITING MEANS AND SAID SLEEVE FOR PRESSING SAIDSPINDLE AXIALLY OF SAID SLEEVE INTO SAID OPENING IN THE INSIDE RETRACTORHUB, A KNOB INCLUDING A SLEEVE PORTION SUPPORTED ON THE OUTER SURFACE OFSAID ROTATING SLEEVE, AND KNOB RETAINER MEANS MOUNTED IN POSITION WITHINSAID ROTATING SLEEVE AND ALLOWING CLEARNACE FOR THE AXIAL SLIDING OF THESPINDLE IN SAID SLEEVE, SAID KNOB RETAINER MEANS HAVING A PORTIONENGAGING IN OPENINGS IN THE ROTATING SLEEVE AND SLEEVE PORTION OF THEKNOB TO LOCK SAID KNOB TO SAID SLEEVE.